The 2016 Teaneck International Film FestivalThursday November 3rd to Sunday November 6th, 2016

All About the Films
Note: Films are in English unless otherwise noted. Many films are unrated; parental caution is advised.

AbattoirHorror - 98 minutes
Directed by Darren Lynn BousmanStudents $5 at the Door
Saturday, November 5, 11:00 PMTalk forward with Executive Producer Michael Yedwab; moderated by Marie Aronsohn
Sponsored by Black Box Studios & Black Box PAC IMDb - Trailer
A real estate reporter named Julia Talben unearths an urban legend about a house being built from rooms where horrific tragedies have occurred. The investigation ultimately leads Talben and a detective to the enigmatic Jebediah Crone and the answer to the question: How do you construct a haunted house?

After Spring
Documentary - 101 minutes
Directed by Steph Ching/Ellen Martinez; Arabic, English, Korean/English subtitlesTalkback with Directors Steph Ching & Ellen Martinez, Cinematographer Jason Graham Howell; moderated by David BlandOfficialSite - IMDb - Trailer
With the Syrian conflict entering its sixth year, millions of people continue to be displaced. By following two refugee families in transition and aid workers fighting to keep the camp running, viewers will experience what it is like to live in Zaatari, the largest camp for Syrian refugees. With no end in sight for the conflict or this refugee crisis, everyone must decide if they can rebuild their lives in a place that was never meant to be permanent.

American Reds
Documentary - 85 minutes
Directed by Richard WormserTalkback with Director Richard Wormser; Producer Bill Jersey; moderated by Ellen Rand
Sponsored by Adeline Wijnen & The Puffin Foundation, Ltd.OfficialSite - IMDb - Trailer
The Communist Party USA, despite its grievous faults and failings, and its willful blindness to the tyranny of the Soviet Union, still had a vision of a better world. American Reds is the first documentary to comprehensively examine the history and the contemporary relevance of the party. The battlefields on which American communists fought inequities, remain the sites on which the exact same conflicts rage today: racism, anti-unionism, unequal distribution of wealth, sexism and incipient fascism.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan
India - Comedy/Drama - 163 minutes
Directed by Kabir Khan; Hindi, Urdu, Panjabi/English subtitles
Sponsored by NPZ Law Group, Global Immigration AttorneysTalk forward precedes filmOfficialSite - IMDb - Trailer
A man with a magnanimous spirit tries to take a young mute Pakistani girl back to her homeland to reunite her with her family. The film pulsates with heart and has a story to tell. It makes you laugh. It makes you cry.

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
Documentary - 100 minutes
Directed by Greg Palast and David AmbroseTalkback with Director Greg Palast; Miss New Jersey USA, Sameera Khan, Muslim rights activist; moderated by Marie Aronsohn
Sponsored by The Puffin Foundation, Ltd. IMDb - Trailer
Follow gonzo investigate reporter Greg Palast (BBC, Rolling Stone) as he busts the new Ku Klux Klan - the billionaire bandits that are behind a scheme to purge one million voters of color in November. With the help of Willie Nelson, Rosario Dawson, and detectives Ice-T and Richard Belzer, Palast tracks down the secret billionaires behind Donald Trump!

Carvalho’s Journey
Documentary - Biography/History - 85 minutes
Directed by Steve Rivo Talkback with Director Steve Rivo; David Oestricher, expert on Lenapes; Arlene Hirschfelder, author and historian; Rabbi Steven Sirbu,Temple EmethOfficialSite - IMDb - Facebook
A real life 19th century American western adventure story, Carvalho’s Journey traces the extraordinary saga of Solomon Nunez Carvalho 1815-1897 , an observant Sephardic Jew born in Charleston, South Carolina, and his life as a groundbreaking photographer, artist, and pioneer in American history. The film features interviews with scholars and writers, rare archival materials, original landscape cinematography and re-creations of the daguerreotype process.
Film provided by The National Center for Jewish Film

Dukale’s Dream
Documentary - 70 minutes
Directed by Josh Victor RothsteinTalkback with Director Josh Victor Rothstein; moderated by Regina Melnyk, Teaneck High School Fair Trade Advisor
Sponsored by Teaneck Fair Trade & Teaneck High School Fair Trade Student CommitteeOfficialSite - IMDb - Facebook - Trailer
Hugh Jackman X-MEN's "Wolverine" flies to Ethiopia as part of World Vision's initiative to bring attention to their success in raising people out of poverty. Hugh spends an entire day in the fields with coffee grower Dukale who is working hard to lift his family out of poverty. He learns first-hand about the value of fair trade coffee. Inspired by Dukale, Hugh launches Laughing Man Coffee, trading directly with the growers and donating 100% of the profit to support community development programs and social entrepreneurs around the world.

The Innocents
Poland/France - Drama - 115 minutes
Directed by Anne Fontaine; French, Polish, Russian/English subtitlesTalkback with Sister Camille D'Arienzo; Angela Bonavoglia, author & journalist; moderated by Sandi Klein
Sponsored by Sandi Klein's Conversations with Creative WomenIMDb - Facebook - Trailer
In 1945 Poland, a young French Red Cross doctor who is sent to assist the survivors of the German camps discovers several nuns in advanced states of pregnancy during a visit to a nearby convent.

Kid Flix Mix 2016
Live action & animated short films - 60 minutes
The Best of the New York International Children's Film FestivalHosted by Bob McGrath of Sesame Street
Sponsored by The Puffin Foundation, Ltd. & YWCA of Bergen County
For Children 4-8

Thanks to a grant from the Puffin Foundation, children will be admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Once again, TIFF presents the acclaimed New York International Children's Film Festival assortment of its best animated and live action films from around the world. Bob McGrath, of Teaneck and Sesame Street, will introduce the program, which features musical and narrative works from around the world. The collection is guaranteed to delight our youngest filmgoers.

Last Cab to Darwin
Australia - Comedy/Drama/Romance - 123 minutes
Directed by Jeremy Sims Talkback with Dr. Richard Rosenbluth, Holy Name Medical Center, palliative care specialist; moderated by Ellen Rand, author & TIFF co-founderOfficialSite - IMDb - Trailer
Rex is a loner, and when he's told he doesn't have long to live, he embarks on an epic drive through the Australian outback from Broken Hill to Darwin to die on his own terms. His journey reveals to him that before you can end your life, you have to live it, and to live it, you've got to share it.

The Last Laugh
Documentary - 88 minutes
Directed by Ferne Pearlstein Talkback with Director Ferne Pearlstein, Alan Zweibel, author, playwright, screenwriter, producer, director, actor, comedian; writer for Saturday Night Live; moderated by Sandi Klein
Sponsored by Rotary Club of TeaneckIMDb - Facebook - Trailer
Feature documentary about humor and the Holocaust, examining whether it is ever acceptable to use humor in connection with a tragedy of that scale, and the implications for other seemingly off-limits topics in a society that prizes free speech. Features Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sarah Silverman, Gilbert Gottfried.

Life, Animated
Documentary - 89 minutesStudents Admitted Free
Directed by Roger Ross WilliamsTalkback with Ilene Lainer, President & Co-founder of New York Collaborates for Autism (NYCA); Quisueya Meyreles, LCSW, mental health professional; Renee Redding-Jones, Director of the Center for Life and Learning
Sponsored by Wendy Dessanti, Weichert Realtors & The Township of Teaneck and The Teaneck Board of Education, “Stigma-Free Zone”
OfficialSite - IMDb - Facebook - Trailer
A coming of age story about a boy and his family who overcame great challenges by turning Disney animated movies into a language to express love, loss, kinship and brotherhood. Based on the bestseller by Ron Suskind about his autistic son’s astonishing journey back to the world.

Making a Killing: Guns, Greed, and the NRA
Documentary - 103 minutes
Directed by Robert Greenwald Talkback with Senator Loretta Weinberg & Producer Tara Kelton; Kate Ranta, Everytown.org - gun violence survivor; moderated by David Bland
Sponsored by Senator Loretta Weinberg & National Council of Jewish Women Bergen County Section OfficialSite - IMDb - Facebook - Trailer
Documentary features personal stories from people across the country who have been affected by gun violence, including survivors and victims' families. The film exposes how the powerful gun companies and the NRA are resisting responsible legislation for the sake of profit - and thereby putting people in danger. The film looks into gun tragedies that include unintentional shootings, domestic violence, suicides, mass shootings and trafficking - and what we can do to put an end to this profit-driven crisis.

A Man and a Woman
France - Romantic Drama - 1966 - 102 minutes
Directed by Claude Lelouche; French/English subtitles Talkback with
Neil Amdur, journalist
Sponsored by Arbor Terrace of TeaneckOfficialSite - IMDb - Trailer
A man and a woman meet by accident on a Sunday evening at their children's boarding school. Slowly they reveal themselves to each other, finding that each is a widow/widower. Much of the film is told wordlessly in action or through hearing their thoughts as they go about their day.

Maya Angelou and Still I Rise
Documentary - 114 minutes
Directed by Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn WhackTalkback with Director Bob Hercules; moderated by Jeanette Curtis Rideau
Teaneck Community Chorus will sing two songs
Sponsored by TheTeaneck Community Chorus & YWCA of Bergen CountyOfficialSite - IMDb - Trailer
Dr. Angelou has become a global symbol of peace, humility, and freedom – but parts of her story are not well known. This documentary will reflect on how the events of history, culture, and the arts shaped Dr. Angelou’s life and how she, in turn, helped shape our own world view through her autobiographical literature and activism.

An incredibly talented artist and a fierce activist, Miss Diamond knew from a young age that what other people saw, was not who she was. This is the story of survival in a world that often rejects transgender people.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell
with short by Vivian Sessoms on Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit
Documentary - 72 minutes
Directed by Gini Reticker
Sponsored by The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. Bergen/Passaic ChapterTalkback with Counselor Christiana Tah, former Attorney General/Minister of Justice for the Republic of Liberia; Macsu Hill, Liberian eyewitness to terror; Khuraira Musa, celebrity make-up artist & Bring Back Our Girls activist; moderated by Sandi Klein
OfficialSite - IMDb - Trailer
The remarkable account of the Liberian women who came together to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country. A story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence, Pray the Devil Back to Hell honors the strength and perseverance of the women of Liberia. Inspiring, uplifting, and most of all motivating, it is a compelling testimony of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations.

OfficialSite - IMDb - Trailer
Academy Award-winning screenwriter Robert Riskin headed up a secret film unit that sought to redefine America in the eyes of the world during the darkest days of World War II. The filmmakers created powerful short documentaries that showed America's strength not through images of tanks, but in portraits of farmers, school children and window washers. These films were brilliant, moving portraits of America that were unlike any films ever made before, but seventy years later they are forgotten, hidden away in government archives. Narrated by John Lithgow.

Sold
India/England/US - Drama - 94 minutesCenterpiece - hors d’oeuvres, drinks, desserts
Directed by Jeffrey D. BrownTalkback with Director Jeffrey D. Brown;
Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle; moderated by Sandi Klein
Sponsored by Wise Older Women OfficialSite - IMDb - Trailer
Through one extraordinary girl’s story, Sold illustrates the brutality of child trafficking, which affects millions of children around the globe every year. Produced by two time Academy Award winner Emma Thompson, and starring Gillian Anderson and David Arquette, Sold is a call to action, and a testament to the power and resilience of the human spirit.

Trapped
Documentary - 90 minutes
Directed by Dawn Porter
Sponsored by League of Women Voters of Teaneck, NJTalkback with Attorney Hillary Schneller, Center for Reproductive Rights; Angela Bonavoglia, author & journalist; Casey Olesko, Planned Parenthood NJ; moderated by Sandi Klein
OfficialSite - IMDb - Trailer
From 2011 to 2013, hundreds of regulations were passed restricting access to abortion in America. Reproductive rights advocates refer to these as "TRAP" laws, or Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers. Trapped interweaves the personal stories behind these regulatory battles: from the physician who crisscrosses the country assuring medical services are available; to the strong women and men who run the clinics; to the lawyers leading the legal charge to eliminate these laws; to the women they are all determined to help.

Ugly
Short - Comedy/Drama - 20 minutes
Directed by Leron LeeStudents $5 at the Door
Sponsored by Bergen County (NJ) Chapter of the Links, Inc.Talkback with Director/Writer Leron Lee; Actor Devon Moyd; moderated by Dedra TateIMDb - Facebook - Trailer An urban, coming-of-age story of a boy looking for love in the wrong place - his own environment.

Waiting
India - Drama - 92 minutes
Directed by Anu Menon; Hindi, English/English subtitles Talkback to followOfficialSite - IMDb - Trailer
An elderly man whose wife has been in a coma for eight months meets a terrified young wife whose husband has slipped into coma after a sudden accident. Will grief drive them both insane, or can two lonely strangers support each other?